Mitsui Fudosan Group’sSocial and Environmental EffortsComments from Third Parties

Solving Social Problems Through the Pursuit of
Ideal Urban Spaces

Toshiharu IkagaProfessor, School of Science for Open & Environmental Systems
Graduate School of Science & Technology, Keio University

By reading this &EARTH REPORT 2017, I learned about the efforts to achieve “smart wellness” (a smart facility that contributes to the well-being of society), through the Mitsui Fudosan Group’s primary business. The reason why “smart wellness” offices have garnered international attention in recent years is because it has become clear that, if the health status of employees is good, including mental health, this promotes improved intellectual productivity and helps to stabilize corporate management. It is essential to plan spaces that are not only comfortable but also places where people naturally become more energized while working, and which enable reduction in stress and lack of exercise. Mitsui Offices feature painstaking design of indoor environments, public spaces and nearby landscaping, and focus efforts even on human factors such as community creation. These are highly acclaimed as models for the “smart wellness office.”

The next most important item for realizing “smart wellness,” after the office environment, is the environmental grade of housing and the neighborhood. The Mitsui Fudosan Group provides high-grade living environments in both apartments/condominiums and detached housing, and promotes neighborhood creation taking into account the convenience of residents and the fun of living. The culmination of that, I feel, is Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City, which is still under development. I have great expectations for the continuing realization of “smart wellness” through integration of the businesses of the Mitsui Fudosan Group, i.e., office buildings, housing, and neighborhood creation. It will be 10 to 20 years before the results appear in data such as local medical and care costs, but this is the sort of long-term project that is only possible for a real estate business engaged in workstyle reform and that recognizes that maturity comes with age.

Also attracting attention is Mitsui Fudosan’s group-wide efforts, as a Tokyo 2020 Gold Partner in the Real Estate Development category, to create neighborhoods using the power of sports, but I would like to focus on the value of these efforts after the games. I believe the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be an opportunity to turn people’s awareness toward diversity, and to make major changes in urban spaces. In order for newly created communities to remain as a legacy even after the event is over, I would like them to be made easy for anyone to use and live in.

Going forward, I expect to see the Mitsui Fudosan Group make continual efforts through neighborhood creation to address social issues like those indicated in the SDGs (sustainable development goals) that are the global trend.

Creating Neighborhoods That Allow for a
Fulfilling Life and Workstyle

My impression reading this year’s &EARTH REPORT 2017 was that Mitsui Fudosan is actively promoting workstyle reform for workers. Setting up WORKSTYLING shared offices and implementing the Work-Life Bridge project for assisting in the daily lives of workers help provide support for the various life stages and workstyles of employees, and I expect to see these continue to expand in the future. Realization of work-life balance will help to cultivate the perspective of a citizen through one’s own life and relationships with the community. I believe this approach will also be put to use in neighborhood and residence creation from the standpoint of residents.

Workstyle reform is one approach for supporting diversity, but efforts are also evident in terms of housing and living diversity. Park Axis PREMIER MINAMIAOYAMA, a home connected with the city that provides quality living, and WESTWOOD, a new one-story house for smaller household sizes, provide affluent, comfortable housing and living in an aging society.

It is clear that efforts to reduce environmental impact, which have been underway for some time, are progressing steadily. For custom-built detached residences, green’s ZERO is now being offered, exploiting the know-how cultivated with environmentally-oriented housing, green’s, and the demonstration housing MIDEAS. Since energysavings of roughly 30% can be achieved over ordinary Zero-Energy Houses (ZEH), this is a home enabling zero electricity bills, even including energy consumption of appliance products. In the lead up to dissemination of ZEH, as promoted by the national government, I hope Mitsui Fudosan will also provide information on benefits, including improvements in comfort and health. As a built-for-sale condominium, Park City Musashikosugi The Garden will be completed in 2018 with features for energy conservation (high insulation, high-efficiency equipment), energy production, and energy storage. In addition to Mansion Energy Management Systems (MEMS), Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS), and Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS), adoption of Town Energy Management Systems (TEMS) for visualization of energy over an entire block and energy pooling between blocks is a response to the requirements of society and the needs of residents for optimal use of energy and measures to respond in case of disaster.

Going forward, I expect Mitsui Fudosan to continue creating neighborhoods where people can work and live with fulfillment.